Rain one of many profiled in Pop Goes Korea.
This book is just now coming to our attention, though it was published back in January 2009.
» From the author’s website: “Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music and Internet Culture, by freelance writer Mark James Russell, is the only English-language book to examine the whole of Korea’s entertainment industry and how it became such a powerhouse over the past 15 years. With profiles of many of Korea’s top stars (including Lee Byung-hun and Rain), Pop Goes Korea features chapters on movies, music, television, comic books, the Internet, and more.”
» This review at London Korean Links further explains the part of the book that references Rain: “…Russell explains the hard work, for example, undertaken by Rain in his long apprenticeship before he hit the big time; or the long contracts which bind TV actors to a particular station. We see in Rain’s breakaway from JYP an assertion of the artist’s individuality and independence while also an example of the riskiness of a company’s investment in its stars.”
We have not seen nor read the contents of this book, so if any one of you has, please let us know what you think of it. Seems like it might be an interesting resource on the Hallyu wave…? — ^@@^
Cloud USA 
i’m wondering something…Mark, if i remember your book was mentioned in the Korea Times on-line paper i think. am i wrong?
also, during one of Rain’s sixtofive autograph signings, a man (older than Rain), came up to him and shook his hand (had on a blue jacket w/ papers under his arm). for some reason i found myself wondering if that could have been the author Mark Russell?? (could be wrong, but just thought i’d ask to satisfy my wonder lust) but, let me add my “thank you” along with cloudusa for the fine work you’ve done on behalf of a guy who we love very much.
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Hi there. This is Mark Russell, the guy who wrote the book. Thank you much for the mention. I am trying to get my website up and running, but it is going slowly; but I also have the website http://www.koreapopwars.com, which has a lot more content (including a few things about Rain.
My book only has a short article about Rain (four pages or so), but it does have a lot of other information about the Korean pop music industry, so hopefully your readers will find it interesting. I also worked on the Discovery documentary about Rain last year, Hip Korea, so hopefully I can write more about Rain in the future.
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Wow–hello, Mark. This is Stephe of Cloud USA. You’re so welcome! What a pleasure to meet you (so to speak).
I was so excited when I ran across mention of your book, not only because of Rain’s profile, but because you were also tackling Korean pop, the Hallyu wave, and Korea’s transformation on a broad scale (entertainment-wise). Honestly, I’m looking forward to reading it.
Congratulations on putting out a wonderful documentary (Hip Korea) that did Rain justice. I would say that even if it had not been about Rain–it was truly a well-done piece. And thank you for your Korea Pop Wars link–I’ll be sure to include it in our sidebar.
I find myself wondering if you’re still in Seoul…?
Take care, and have a prosperous week. Until we speak again–
Stephe
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Oh, I see by your profile that you’re no longer in Seoul, but in Europe. 🙂
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